Anxiety and its message

Fear and anxiety have become a way of life in our culture.  

It can morph its ugly face in many ways, such as anxiety to be wealthy, anxiety to be loved, anxiety to lose weight and so on.  

And…

as much as we try to calm our mind and invent ways of protecting ourselves, we create new reasons to be anxious…and the cycle continues.  

Is it any wonder…that we’re anxious that is.  It’s inevitable when we base our mental health on external factors that are not only unpredictable, but unreliable.

When we try to predict and control our external environment, we create a state of anxiety, just by that very act.  

When we try to control our life, when we are constantly planning for our future and weighing the pros and cons of a potential action, we are making a statement that we trying to escape ourselves and have bought into the illusion and the story our mind is creating.  

Life is beyond our control.

“Non-surrender to life, non-perception of truth, and the imposing of our personal will upon existence must cause anxiety.”  David Frawley

In order to break the cycle of our thought patterns, we must redirect our mental attention.

“To perceive the ultimate truth we must silence the mind through meditation.”  David Frawley

Here are some practical things you can start doing today to begin the process of allowing, letting, go and quieting the mind:

1. Commit to a daily practice of going outside and ‘being’ in nature
2. Focus your attention on something attractive in nature like the sky, a lake, a flower, a tree.  Sit quietly gazing at this beautiful object for at least a minute or two.
3. Once you are able to adhere to a daily practice of being and sitting in nature, you can move on to concentrating on a mantra (like the one I have provided for you HERE).

• When you are ready to sit and chant your mantra, make sure you allow at least 5-10 minutes for this practice.  
• Find a quiet spot in your house or sit outside in nature if possible.  
• Visualize the area at base of the spine – Muladhara Chakra – as you chant the bija mantra LAM.    

(Meditation can be challenging for someone with a Vata or a Pitta imbalance, this is why a mantra is so useful.  Placing your concentration on a mantra, helps to focus the mind and keep it from racing on to other distracting and sometimes destructive thoughts).

Before bed, add a practice of drinking a nourishing, soothing herbal drink such as ‘Golden Milk’ (recipe below), to help calm and ground you ~ 

• 2 cups raw almond milk (unsweetened)
• 1 tsp powdered turmeric
• 1 tsp powdered ginger
• 1 tsp raw honey or maple syrup
• ½ tsp nutmeg
• ½ tsp cinnamon
• ½ tsp cardamom

Bring the almond milk, and all the spices to a boil.  Turn off heat, let the mixture cool for a few minutes and add your sweetener of choice.  You can also add 2 tsp of coconut oil for added grounding. 

If you would like a personalized Ayurvedic Consultation please email me at:  annette@cynyoga.com.  I am currently taking new clients for the month of October 2017.  My rate is $297 for 4 weeks of working together and includes two Skype calls and unlimited email support during that time.